Contents

Don't mess with Greeks.

The lawyer is thinking that Greek s are so dumb that he could get over on them easy...So the lawyer asks if the Greek would like to play a fun game.

The Greek is tired and just wants to take a nap, so he politely declines and tries to catch a few winks.

The lawyer persists, and says that the game is a lot of fun. I ask you a question, and if you don't know the answer, you pay me only $5; you ask me one, and if I don't know the answer, I will pay you $500, he says.

This catches the Greek s attention and to keep the lawyer quiet, he agrees to play the game.

The lawyer asks the first question. 'What's the distance from The Earth to the Moon?' The Greek doesn't say a word, reaches in his pocket pulls out a five-dollar bill, and hands it to the lawyer.

Now, it's the Greek ’s turn. He asks the lawyer, 'What goes up a hill with three legs, and comes down with four?' The lawyer uses his laptop and searches all references he could find on the Net.

He sends e-mails to all the smart friends he knows, all to no avail. After one hour of searching he finally gives up.
He wakes up the Greek and hands him $500.

The Greek pockets the $500 and goes right back to sleep.

The lawyer is going nuts not knowing the answer. He wakes the Greek up and asks,

'Well, so what goes up a hill with three legs and comes down with four?'

The Greek reaches in his pocket, hands the lawyer $5 and goes back to sleep.

Stripping external links

Please don't remove links from OrthodoxWiki to OSource! The purpose of OSource is for source texts, not to strip external links out of OrthodoxWiki. —Fr. Andrewtalkcontribs(THINK!) 02:41, November 18, 2008 (UTC)

OSource does not only source "texts" but sources "Audio" as well ... only problem is that it is taking time to develop the site - especially since I have been away for 2 months. Vasiliki 02:56, November 18, 2008 (UTC)

That's fine, and you're right. OSource is for other kinds of source material besides texts.

Copyright question for OSource

I've noticed you've been adding many texts to OrthodoxSource. This is good.

I'm wondering, though, whether these texts are explicitly in the Public Domain or whether you have been given permission from the copyright holders to reproduce them on the site. Just in a brief examination of some of the texts on the site, I've found several articles which seem to be violations of copyright. (No indication is given that permission was received to use them.)

OrthodoxSource is hosted in the United States and has to abide by US copyright law. Except in the limited context of Fair use, it's illegal to use material from another source without explicit permission to do so. (Reproducing and republishing whole texts online does not constitute "fair use.")

Please make sure that you are abiding by US copyright law. OrthodoxWiki and OrthodoxSource could get shut down and the people who run them could get in trouble with the authorities.

OSource help

Thanks for your invitation, but I honestly don't have enough time to do the stuff I'd like for OrthodoxWiki, much less add another site. (Among other things, I'm in the midst of a roughly 280-page writing project for a lecture series I'm doing.)

In any event, please make sure that what you add to either wiki site is legally usable. One of the admins will be forced to delete anything that's not clearly permitted for our use. —Fr. Andrewtalkcontribs(THINK!) 15:03, November 21, 2008 (UTC)

Your issue has been resolved. Father John has close ddown the site. You wont have problems with me anymore. Vasiliki 22:03, November 27, 2008 (UTC)

OrthodoxSource

Dear Vasiliki,

I'm sorry that I acted so abruptly here. I did suspect it would impact you rather than anyone else and it would have been courteous of me to send you a note beforehand. I was a little worried about this. I have been thinking about shutting down the site for a little while, hoping that others would get more involved. Right now, it seems better to focus energies on OrthodoxWiki itself.

About the material, I will help you get off of the site anything you'd like. I was a little worried too about copyright issues, particular on the work of Bishop Kallistos'. Although I am happy to see it as a resource online, I don't want to do something that will get us into trouble. Anyway, let me know what you need a copy of and I'll find some way to do it. I could also just reopen the site for a day or so and let you take whatever you need. — FrJohn (talk) 05:56, November 27, 2008 (UTC)

Thank you ... let me know. When one door closes another opens they say ... so, its time to use my time elsewhere ... my heart is no longer in OrthodoxWiki ... its cold in here.

On another note, I feel that this word "copyright" is extremally detrimental to Orthodoxy (I am only venting although I understand that these are the worldy legal realities) ... I hope our good Lord shows us this one day ... what has Orthodoxy become? A business .... a business in "selling" theology ... we distribute the "meat" of Orthodoxy by SELLING IT ... I can understand it making business sence (ie. paying off the material costs to put it together) but it seems to have become an industry further past the basic costs .... it will never make true Orthodox sence to me ...

I pray that we as Orthodox Christians can overcome this and continue to volunteer our time - for free - and distribute as "freely" as we can ... what do they say (in the Greek culture)? "whatever God gives you for FREE you are obligated to give it forward for FREE" - its not YOURS to keep or to make a profit from.

The homilies of our Spiritual Fathers (in the Church) should be passed on to the people of the Church ... for free ... and if it isnt being passed on for free (for fear of being sued by those who published it) ... something is wrong ...

Do we have Orthodoxy simply to discuss it or do we also practice it

This world saddens me when our hands are tied up by the laws of this world. Vasiliki 21:50, November 27, 2008 (UTC)

Vasiliki, Are you located in Greece? Your concerns about copyright are a major reason for this project, by the way -- and the kind of licensing we have chosen to use (Creative Commons -- see creativecommons.org -- and the GFDL), which allows free use and redistribution of content. I do not think that a desire for someone to protect their intellectual work is necessarily bad or unchristian, but I agree that our whole copyright system needs some work, and that the traditional use of materials in church often reflects something more like a "Creative Commons" approach (although often without attribution!).